St. Mary's Hospital Hospital
created
patients
Show reviews by
Sort by
Most Helpful |
Newest
I had been a patient of St. Mary's before and anticipated a good stay as my last stay had been wonderful. The staff at that time was awesome. Pre- and Post-op care for the first 24 hours was very good. My one issue with the 24 hour care was that they were not very HIPAA compliant. Anyone could look at the computer screens as they walked by and could view what was posted there. Plus for a 24 hour care unit they were awful loud at times when patients were trying to sleep. I was disappointed when I got to the general floor. Some of the nurses treated me as a number. Several times I had to wait for my light to be answered for over 15 minutes. I did my own intake and output for the staff and had to remind them numerous times about my JP drain being full. My doctors were there every day and were wonderful, both Dr. Bettendorf and Dr. Pitt. Karla was a great nurse. She was there for me when I was needful and tried to do her best for me. The best nurse I had was the one who discharged me and I can't remember her name. She was very informative and helped me with everything. I think part of my particular problems were that they knew I'm a nurse and they expected me to do for myself more because I knew what needed to be done. But as a patient I was not suppose to be wearing my nurse's hat, even though I seemed to have to been donning it many times. Patient teaching was poor. Also I had a big issue with the dietary department. I am allergic to citric acid. Several times I received lemon or lime flavored items. I cannot have them. Also one nurse called it ascorbic acid instead of citric acid and really screwed dietary up there as well. On my first day on general floor when I was allowed to have liquids again, I received apple juice and cranberry juice for liquids. This was fine except for 1 thing. They were high in sugar and caused me to have dumping and a diabetic reaction of high blood glucose. If they had been true bariatric nurses they would have known not to give those to me. This had not bothered me before with my lap band, but with the RNY it was something they should have been looking out for. As the patient I was not always alert enough to realize those things. Granted, I was there during a winter storm warning and some staff had called in unnecessarily as we did not get the amount of snow it was calling for. The worst of the storm was the howling wind of 50 miles per hour exacerbated by the fact that we were right on the lake. Generally I had good points and bad points during my stay. I kept up with my walking. No one checked to see if I was walking or not. It was a good thing that I had brought a pair of loose shorts with me so that my butt was covered when I went walking. There should be robes made for IVs just like there are gowns made for Ivs. But that is a global issue, not just the hospital. I think there needs to be some mandatory inservices for the nurses who are taking care of bariatric patients so that those on the floor will know better what to look for when we get out on the general floor.
I had anticipated my stay at St. Mary’s to be a good one. I had heard good things about this hospital but I was very disappointed. I was appalled at the condition of the bathroom that I shared with another patient. It was not cleaned a single time for the duration of my stay (5 days), even after I had asked for it to be cleaned, twice. There was a urine pan for a man that sat on the back of the toilet for the entire time I was there, there were stains on the floor, dirty urine pans next to the toilet, and urine sat in collection pans that my mother had to change herself at times. I ended up with a kidney infection that I attribute to the unsanitary conditions in the bathroom. I had bad experiences with all but two nurses that cared for me. One actually ‘forgot’ to get my results from the lab regarding my kidney infection; I was at a level 10 pain for over three hours. My mother had to walk down to the nurses’ station multiple times to remind this woman that I was in dire need of pain medication. She was so unkind and seemingly incompetent that I felt afraid for my own health. At one point I was left in the bathroom for over 20 minutes after I pulled the cord for assistance and not a soul came to my aid. After I finally made it to my bed (after a lot of pain) I demanded to see my nurse and tearfully asked her why no one helped me. She apologized, but conditions never improved. I am thankful for the fact that my mother was by my side to advocate for me, I fear what may have happened had she not been there to help with my basic needs. I am not one to complain and have stayed in different hospitals numerous times and I have never had such an awful experience.
Overall, a good stay, I was not kept informed before surgery as to expected delays, extra tome spent pacing around waiting for things to start.
The 24 hr care ward was awesome, once I got up to the general ward...well that was chaotic and the poor nursing staff was running constantly...a very full hospital and I believe they were a bit short staffed due to an ice storm.
The staff at the SMDC Wt Managemt Prog and in St. Mary's Hospital are amazing. Whenever I've had a problem, they work their hardest to help me out. I can't say enough about them
I feel like they were more concerned with others waited over an hour for my pain meds from one nurse more than 3 times. Mainly got my own ice chips. But I will say the staff for the most part they were very nice. The surgoen was very nice and carring. I appriciated he walking me threw everything.
It is a wonderful place to go to in time of crisis or illness. They are well equiped and the staff is excelent
